Keep Yourself Safe from Lottery Fraudsters and Scams

Lottery Scams

Time and again, we come across stories of fraudsters who came up with unique schemes and ideas for getting their hands on the money of innocent and naïve individuals. One such trick that’s commonly used by these scammers is telling people they have won the lottery. It is a dream of lots of individuals and being informed that you have achieved it is a huge deal. People are too excited to know that they have landed a windfall to look closely into the matter and find themselves out of their hard-earned money. Do you want to fall into the same trap? Obviously not, but the fact is that these people are getting smarter and know exactly what will appeal to their potential victims.

Therefore, you have to be extremely cautious and know what to look for. You don’t want to forgo an actual lottery award just because you thought it was a scam. Where money is concerned, people are willing to use nefarious means for getting their hands on it. Yes, you also want financial independence due to which you often play lottery games at different websites, hoping you might win something. So, how can you figure out what is a fraud and what is the real thing? You need to understand the methods first:

Lottery Fraud by Email

It is routine for you to check your email inbox on a regular basis. Upon checking your inbox, you come across an email sent by a lottery company that you have won a substantial sum of money. This is obviously going to be exciting and you immediately start wondering if it is true or not. Everything looks good; the company’s logo, the professional tone of the email and the link provided also takes you to an authentic website. If you win after playing at https://www.swiss-lotto.org, you will be sent an email and you can confirm it. Since it is an authentic website, you will not be required to pay any money for claiming your win, something that fraudsters do frequently.

Generally, a ‘processing fee’ will be required by email fraudsters that needs to be paid in advance to enable your winnings’ transfer in your account. They also ask you to immediately provide your bank details and this is another red flag. The serious lottery providers don’t ask you for any payment to be made for the profits to be transferred to you. Furthermore, they don’t simply ask you for your bank details because a number of security processes are first informed before a cash amount is paid out to someone. This also applies to any communications made through social media networks like Facebook.

These fraudsters use the name of authentic websites and get in touch with people who use them to make the scam more believable. It is a given that if you play lottery games regularly at a certain website and someone claiming to be a part of the website gets in touch with you to inform you of your winning, you are more likely to believe because you played there. However, when you are asked to pay a fee to collect your jackpot, it immediately points to a scam.

Lottery Fraud by Phone

It is not just fraudulent emails or messages on Facebook that you need to be wary about; someone fraudsters also use the phone to ensnare the innocent. The person you speak to often comes as very genuine who seems very pleased to inform you that you have just won the lottery. Expert con-artists can be very convincing over the phone and are quick on their feet, which means they can answer any question you might throw at them. The purpose of the phone call is to obtain your personal information like bank account details. Bear in mind that if you win a huge jackpot, it is normal for the website to get in touch with you, but they don’t ask for sensitive data to be provided over the phone.

Lottery Fraud by Post

The postal route is another avenue that lottery fraudsters might use to reach out to their potential victims. One of the primary reasons this method is used is because a lot of older people are less likely to use emails and don’t play the lottery online. They are more trusting of traditional mail, especially if they purchase lottery tickets from time to time. The advice for this method also remains the same; the key is to be on your guard. When you get a mail telling you that you are a lottery winner, when you haven’t entered, there is a good chance it is not true. Don’t send any money so they can ‘release’ funds and don’t provide any personal information. Watch out for the red flags so you are not a victim.

How to Combat Lottery Fraud

Now you know the popular methods used for committing lottery fraud so how can you combat them. The general rule of thumb is to remember that if you have not entered for something, you cannot win it. No one has the time to enter some stranger’s name because they are feeling nice and friendly. However, if you do habitually play lottery games online at various websites and you are informed that you have won, it is best to do some checks to verify the information. The website will usually send you a notification about your winning and you can just check the activity in your account.

In this way, you don’t have to rely on promises made in emails that came out of the blue. When you check your account, you will find records of all your wins, from the smallest to the largest. Apart from that, you can see through even the cleverest of the fraudsters because they will typically ask you to make an advance payment for collecting your winnings or request you to hand over your personal details like bank account information. As long as you take the necessary precautions, you can keep yourself safe from lottery fraudsters.